1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a lure and more particularly to a free-bending lure which is used as false bait for catching fish in lure fishing and which has a body that can be bent freely.
2. Prior Art
Lure fishing began in Europe in the 1700's when a fisherman accidentally dropped a spoon in a lake and found that trout came flying to this spoon. From that time until the present day, various lures have been devised, and many different types of lures have been proposed. The appeal of lure fishing is that fish can be caught using imitation bait (lures) instead of live bait or real non-live bait, so that the struggle with the fish can be enjoyed by selecting and operating different types of lures.
In regard to types of lures, there has been a great proliferation of types, in terms of color and shape, size, material, lures that float or sink, and lures that emit sounds, etc. In terms of shape, there are six main types of lures: spinners, spoons, spinner baits, plugs, jigs and soft lures used as lures that mimic the shapes of live bait such as shrinps, earthworms or insects. In terms of materials, there are three main types: metal, balsa/plastic and soft plastic (used for convenience of molding). Among these, only soft lures molded from soft plastics such as vinyl chloride have been available as false bait whose bodies can be freely bent in imitation of live bait.
Conventionally, as described above, lures whose bodies can be bent are deformable as a result of the use of a soft plastic material. However, because of the lack of strength, it has been impossible to attach hooks, etc. to the soft main body of such lures. Accordingly, in regard to hook attachment, it has been necessary to attach the hook directly to the fishing line along with the lure main body, and the position of the hook has been limited to the front end portion of the lure. In another method that has been used, the lure is integrally molded from a hard plastic and a soft plastic, and a fishing line connecting eye and a hook connecting eye are attached to the hard plastic portion. Even if this is done, however, difficulties still exist. The position of the hook is limited to the hard plastic portion; and if the hard plastic portion is formed over a long extent of the lure so that this limitation is avoided, then it becomes difficult to achieve overall deformation of the lure.
Furthermore, a lure in which a trunk and tail are connected by a metal fitting as a lure configuration that mimics a gold fish can be cited as one example of a lure that is close to a free-bending lure. In this case, however, the metal fitting consists of a pair of (eye-shaped) metal rings that are connected to each other. One metal ring of the metal fitting is insert-molded or screwed into the trunk, while the other metal ring is insert-molded or screwed into the tail, so that an integrated body is formed. Accordingly, the structure is complicated, and it is unsuitable for mass production. Furthermore, a large gap is unavoidably generated between the trunk and the tail as a result of the connecting structure of the two metal rings, and this prevents a fine connection. Consequently, such a structure is completely unsuitable for making a lure that is freely deformable in imitation of false bait by successively connecting a number of segments.